Resources

Australia’s newly elected Labour government has stated its commitment to the Defense spending plan created by the outgoing Liberal government in 2020. Under this plan Australia will see an investment of US$187B in the decade between 2020 and 2030. In the 2022-23 financial year Australia has slated US$33.2B for defense expenditures, a 7.4% increase from financial year 2021-22. 2022-23 marks the 10th year of real growth in defense expenditures and equates to slightly over 2% of Australia’s GDP. Australia’s recent investment in its defense sector has been spurred by its uncertain and relatively unstable geopolitical position in the Indo-Pacific, particularly with regards to the rise of China. There are many opportunities for Virginia companies to provide defense services to Australia. Many of those opportunities will be created by Australia’s investment it its cyber, maritime, and training sectors.

The Defense and Security in Australia report outlines market entry strategy for Virginia businesses looking to sell into the Australian defense market. It also provides an overview of current trends in the market, key government and industry players, and details government and defense sector procurement.

Following its departure from the EU, the UK has developed a series of its own trade markings in order to facilitate the harmonization of standards and the free flow of goods on its domestic market. The UKCA, or UK Conformity Assessed, is a new product marking that has been introduced as a mechanism for demonstrating to consumers that certain goods are compliant with the relevant UK legislation pertaining to health, safety, and environmental protection. The UKCA mark is applicable to all of the goods that were previously covered under the EU’s CE Marking scheme. All new products introduced to the UK market after  January 1, 2023 will need to affix a UKCA marking to their product to demonstrate conformity with UK legislation. This brief explains what the UKCA marking is, what it covers, what happens to pre-existing products, and what manufacturers need to do to register for a UKCA marking.

With Virginian exports amounting to over $3.2 billion in goods to Canada annually, Canada is the largest export partner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States at large. In view of its huge market, Canada presents major trade and business investment opportunities for many Virginia companies owing to their well-educated workforce, wealth of natural resources, and low tax rates for new business investments.
 
This report is the second installment of the Export Guide Canada, and aims to give Virginia companies a better understanding of the requirements and steps necessary for establishing a business presence in Canada, as well as a comprehensive overview of the import and trade show process. It covers:

• Establishing a presence in Canada
• Preparing for a trade show in Canada
• The Canadian Labor Code
• Patents & Intellectual Property
• USMCA

As the largest country in South America by both landmass and population, Brazil faces unique challenges and opportunities for growth and innovation in the ICT sector. Brazil has been internationally recognized for the quality of its ICT solutions developed across several areas, including financial services, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and e-government. In 2021, Brazil’s ICT sector grew by 18.3%, representing 6.9% of Brazil’s total GDP.
 
There are many opportunities for Virginia companies to provide ICT goods and services into Brazil. Many of those opportunities will be created by the deployment of 5G in Brazil in the coming years. By July 2022, there will be 5G coverage in all 26 capital cities in Brazil. By 2029, there will be 5G coverage to all Brazilian municipalities with more than 30,000 inhabitants.
 
This report on the Brazilian ICT Industry overviews Brazil’s ICT subsectors, the impact of COVID on Brazil’s digitalization efforts, 5G deployment, key ICT investments in the next three years, market trends, and regulatory frameworks. It also highlights ICT trade shows in Brazil.

In recent years the Saudi market has been opening up as the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), seeks to reposition the Kingdom with less reliance on oil and a more sustainable economic foundation for his country. The process to open-up the Kingdom is not easy and has resulted in the largest transformation program that the world has ever seen. Under the banner of Vision 2030, MBS has set out the priorities for the Saudi Government for the next 10 years and these focus on the diversification of the economy away from oil and the creation of jobs for huge, youthful Saudi national population. We now see opportunities in all sectors that were previously difficult or impossible for foreign businesses to access such as in education, training, construction and the healthcare sector.
 
Defense, however, has always been ‘open’ to western suppliers and prime contractors to a certain extent. The security relationship between the Kingdom and the US (and other key defense partners such as the UK and France) has always been shored up by defense sector procurement contracts.
 
The Defense Industry in Saudi Arabia report outlines general market entry strategy for Virginia businesses looking to sell into the Saudi defense market. It also provides an overview of current trends in the market, including government bodies and defense news, and details government & defense sector procurement.

As the largest export partner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States at large, Canada presents major trade opportunities for many Virginia companies. Canada’s economic pulse in 2022 is still being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertain global economic and political conditions. However, supply chain disruptions have not halted Canadian economic recovery. The OECD projects that the Canadian economy will grow at a considerable rate of 3.9% in 2022 and 2.8% in 2023.
 
This report, Export Guide Canada, aims to give Virginia companies a better understanding of requirements and steps of the import process to Canada. It covers:

• Canadian logistics and shipping network
• Required customs documents
• Steps to get through Canadian customs
• Non-Resident Importer status and registration process
• Sales tax calculations
• Packaging (marking & labelling)